Republican House Leader Kraig Paulsen and Republican Senate Leader Paul McKinley will meet with the Des Moines Register editorial board this morning at 9 am. They will be discussing how they plan to cope with the state budget crisis in the next year and what their longer term visions for Iowa will be.
Budget, Media | admin | December 1, 2009 | 
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The Des Moines Register is running a series named Capitol Cash: A Series on Tax-Saving Ideas.
THIS WEEK: Cellphones
IDEA: Eliminate state-issued cellular telephones/BlackBerry-like mobile devices.
WHO SUGGESTED: An anonymous citizen via a House Republican Web site.
CURRENT COSTS: Iowa’s state employees have been issued 1,177 Blackberries, according to a report released in September by the Iowa Department of Administrative Services. Iowa’s total cell phone/BlackBerry monthly bills during 2008 were $2.1 million, according to the department.
Budget, Media | admin | November 9, 2009 | Comments (0)
Iowa House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen explains why Governor Culver’s comments regarding the budget are misleading. He explains why it’s the net, not the gross figure that’s important. Then he explains GOP goals in the House for 2010.
Media, Videos | admin | August 7, 2009 | Comments (0)
Covering Iowa Politics (coveriowapolitics.com) did a follow-up story on an article we posted last week about State employee salaries in Iowa.
Figures showing Iowa’s state employees ranked in the top 10 in average salaries in 2007 are raising concerns from some Republicans and business interests, but other state officials are questioning their accuracy.
Numbers compiled by the Legislative Services Agency showed Iowa ranked ninth in the country for average monthly salary of state employees. The ranking was based on U.S. Census Bureau data compiled by the LSA.
Those numbers found the average monthly salary of state workers or “full-time equivalents” was $4,479 in 2007.
Those numbers were quoted on the Iowa House Republicans’ Web site last month and have been circulated recently.House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said any data he’s seen has shown state employees make “significantly more” than the average Iowan
“I think that state government should reflect, you know, what’s going on with real, everyday Iowans, and I’m not sure in this case that it does,” Paulsen said.
Troy Price, spokesman for Gov. Chet Culver, said the figures by the state’s Department of Administrative Services, or DAS, show the state would not be ranked in the top ten for employee salaries.
Continue reading “Iowa state salary levels questioned, defended”
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Media, State Government | admin | July 2, 2009 | Comments (0)
Any government spending spree, whether it’s the one taking place at the federal level or like the one engaged in by Iowa’s legislative Democrats, is bound to result in waste. If there’s no transparency for how the money is being spent, there’s no accountability to make sure that it is being spent wisely.
A story today brings one example of this issue to light. ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper followed the money being spent as part of the federal stimulus plan. The White House issued a report called “100 Days, 100 Projects” which details how the stimulus money is being spent on 100 different projects.
Tapper’s article today focuses on Project #55, which just happens to be in Davenport. The article states:
Project #55 in the report states that: “With the help of Recovery Act funding, Zeglin’s Home TV & Appliance, a locally-owned and operated company, is currently replacing stoves in Public Housing units in Davenport, Iowa, with American-made Whirlpool appliances.”
The reality: Zeglins TV & Appliance, Inc. in Davenport, recently placed an order for 160 stoves and refrigerators for public housing.
The order “is certainly helping an independent businessman like myself keep making payroll,” owner Jeff Zeglin told ABC News.
But… this was a project that had already been approved by Davenport city council to be paid for by federal monies, Margaret Murphy the Assisted Housing Manager for the city, tells ABC News.
When the stimulus bill passed, some astute city workers realized they could have some of that order paid for by the stimulus because of the American steel used in the stoves.
So the city of Davenport submitted $13,000 for 42 stoves (and installation) paid for by the stimulus.
The point is: those stoves would have been purchased and installed anyway.
The full article and a video can be found here: link
Economic Growth, Media | admin | May 29, 2009 | Comments (0)
The Auditor released his review of the FY 2010 budget yesterday. Here is a summary of the talking points:
For a copy of the news release and PowerPoint presentation, click here (PDF). Also, we linked to it yesterday, but here it is again. The Auditor has put up a video on Youtube discussing the state’s budget situation.
Budget, Media | admin | May 19, 2009 | Comments (0)
The State Auditor, David Vaudt, put a video up on Youtube detailing his analysis of Iowa’s budget in the current and in future fiscal years. Watch the video below:
Budget, Media | admin | May 18, 2009 | Comments (0)
On Sunday Feb. 4 the Sioux City Journal nailed what the Democrat’s plan is about: “Although the legislation technically would not repeal Iowa’s Right to Work law, its essential effect would be the same – forced unionism of workers.”
On Tuesday Jan. 30 the Wall Street Journal called the Democrat’s effort to gut Right to Work the “Iowa Emigration Act”.
The Journal stated “If the Iowa Legislature wanted to chase jobs and employers out of the state, they couldn’t come up with a better plan than undermining right to work.”
Also according to the Journal:
“Right to work laws are strongly correlated with faster growth in jobs and personal income.”
“A recent survey by the National Right to Work Institute found that, between 1986 and 2006, 11 right-to-work states have added 104,000 auto manufacturing jobs, a 63% increase. The non right-to-work states lost 130,000 auto jobs, or 15% over the same period.”
David Yepsen of the Des Moines Register noted in his column on Jan. 30 that,:
“…lawyers and others trying to craft the legislation to enact it are discovering that they can’t do it without gutting part of the right-to-work law. (That law also says it’s illegal to collect “dues, charges, fees, contributions, fines or assessments to any labor union, labor association or labor organization” as a condition of employment.)
Labor is saying, “You promised fair share.” Democratic legislators are saying, “You didn’t tell us we’d have to gut the right-to-work law to do it.” Labor replies: “So what’s wrong with that?”
House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen was interviewed by Mediacom Newsleaders. The interview will be airing between the dates January 19th through February 19th on Mediacom channel 30 as part of CNN Headline News.
The segments appear on a rotating basis at the top and bottom of each hour of CNN Headline News.
The clip will eventually be put up on the Mediacom website at: http://www.Connections22.com
Increase in Iowa General Fund (State Budget) Expenditures over the last three years:
| Per Second: $10.12
Per Minute: $607.18 Per Hour: $36,431 Per Day: $874,338 Per Week: $6,120,309 Total: $957.4 million |
Methodology: The general fund budget increased by $957.4 million over three fiscal years (FY 2008 through FY 2010). This includes federal stimulus funds that were used to cover increases in general fund spending. This figure comes from the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA). This figure does not include $52.7 million of FY 2007 supplemental appropriations that were moved into FY 2008 in order to allow the Legislature to increase spending. ($6.297 billion in FY 2010 appropriations minus $5.340 billion in adjusted FY 2007 appropriations.) |
